According to an article today in Dow Jones quoting an unnamed 'source', Tencent Technology Ltd., the instant message service provider in China, has applied to the Hong Kong stock exchange for a main board listing, which is expected to take place sometime in May and raise about US$200 million.

The article notes that Tencent's plans will be taking place despite what can at best be described as a lukewarm response from Hong Kong investors to recent initial public offerings from technology and telecommunications companies. Most notably, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., TOM Online Inc. and China Resources Peoples Telephone Co., fell on their recent Hong Kong trading debuts.

Nevertheless, the TEncent source is confident in the company's outlook, being quoted as saying that "Tencent is different. It is the market leader. There is plenty of money waiting to be invested in good quality companies."